One Year Old Preschool: Colors – Rainbow Review

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We are finally at the end of our seven week series on colors! And rainbows were the focus!

The purpose of this unit is to teach the colors, encourage recognition and differentiation of color, and to explain the reason we have rainbows.

Our Bible verse for the unit is Genesis 9:13, 15: “I set my [rain]bow in the cloud…I will remember.” We did a lot of Noah’s ark discussion during this unit. So G is very familiar with the story by now and can finish the memory verse.

Reading:

This week, instead of going to the library and getting more books (I still haven’t figured out how to do this with a toddler and a baby), I quickly sorted through G’s books as I was cleaning her room and put all the books related to colors in a basket. Then I told her those were the books we would be reading for the week. They included lots of books we have been using throughout this unit on colors (here is a list). We did a few reading marathons during the week. G could read book after book for long periods of time. When she was younger, we had to actually take away the books, so she would play with her toys. We read at nap time, during story-time with W, and at night before bed. There were just so many opportunities to point out colors and rainbows.

Activities:

After all the weeks of colors, we had quite the collection of colored rice. So I made a rainbow sensory bin for G and included only the rice and scoops, funnels, and bowls. I wanted her to just have fun with the rice. This continues to be an activity she can do for long periods of time – she just loves to make it “rain rice!” We had one of G’s cousins (around 14 months old) over for a playdate during this time and he got the opportunity to play with the rice as well. I could tell he really enjoyed it.

I also made a felt rainbow puzzle for G to work with during the week. She loves puzzles. This activity helped reinforce color recognition and taught size recognition as well. I am considering adding this to a busy book (I have never made one, but I have seen some amazing ones on Pinterest lately).

We did some gross motor activities with G this week, using the mats we have on the floor in her play area. One night we were standing around watching her play, when I asked her to go stand on the red square. She promptly looked around and found the closest red square and moved over to stand on it! So we tried it with all the other colors, and she did it! Thus, I decided to up the ante and ask her to jump, sit, and stand on various color squares. We worked on gross motor skills and following instructions, while we reinforced her knowledge of her colors. And it was so fun! She loved it and allowed us to give her directions for about 15 minutes each time we did this (not bad for a toddler!).

A similar gross motor activity we did was a simple color sort. I laid out all the various colored bins (from our sensory bins each week) and put some toys (each with a dominant color) into a basket and handed G the toys one at a time. She had to walk across the room and find the correct bin to place the toy in, based on color.

At night we had a little more rainbow fun in the bath. I found out recently (non-crafter me) that craft foam sticks to bathroom tile when it is wet (I know! so exciting!). So, I took some craft foam in each color of the rainbow and cut semicircles out of the bottom of each piece, starting with the purple piece and getting progressively larger. When they are stacked on top of each other, they create a rainbow (cave-effect). G loved playing with this in the bath and the shower. She liked to put them all next to each other and then stack and re-stack them.

Arts & Crafts:

Music is something that has appealed to G from a very early age. I am not exactly musically gifted, but I love to put on music for her during the day. I also love to introduce her to age appropriate instruments. This week, G learned what a xylophone is and she LOVES it! We found a great rainbow one around Christmastime at World Market (a BOGO sale) and I saved it for this week, thinking it would be a perfect way to work music into our exploration.

We did lots of rainbow crafts this week. I wrote a post about 2 of our paper rainbow crafts. G was able to put the colors in order and name them all as we worked on the crafts.

We also completed our series on colored animals by giving them a place to play: Noah’s ark. G had fun talking about all the crafts she has done during this unit and playing with them.

And, just for cuteness W got in on the rainbow fun!

We had a wonderful time discovering colors and rainbows. If you are interested in checking out more of our preschool unit on colors, please click each link: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

2 Comments

Oh my goodness! I LOVE that you took all the colored animals you made and put them in Noah’s Ark at the end for rainbow week! What a fabulous idea. I’m doing colors with my daughter right now and we’re using “God Made Everything” as our Bible theme, choosing something for each color. But this totally makes me wish I had done all animals to tie in Noah’s Ark! 🙂 So clever. Will be following your blog for more great ideas in the future! 🙂

Oh, thank you Alicia! I love your idea of “God Made Everything!” Isn’t it wonderful when we can teach our little one’s head and heart at the same time? Thanks for leaving a comment – I look forward to hearing from you again!

Hi! I am Leah from Simple.Home.Blessings. So glad you are here! I am a wife & mom trying to do homemaking without fussiness; seeking to find joy in the everyday things of life. I write about raising kids, building a nest for my family, the pennies we get from heaven, & being devoted to God & one another.

Hang out for a little while & see the simple things going on in our home that might be a blessing to you. Connect with me through social media & come find out more about our family and home here.

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